I've been using the Barracuda CSC 3000 chuck set with my lathe for several years. The system works great. A couple of months ago I decided to buy a spare chuck so that I wouldn't need to change jaws so often during a project. I took advantage of a sale at Penn State Industries and bought the spare body.

When I turned a part using the old chuck and switched to the new one the part was no longer centered - it wobbled a noticeable amount. I experimented by turning a part with the old chuck, then mounting the same jaws and part on the new chuck. It wobbled.

I called Penn State and they replaced the chuck body with a new one. I tried it today (same procedure) and I'm having the same problem. Before I go through contacting their customer service again I was wondering if anyone on the Forum experienced a similar problem and may know what's happening. Yes. I mount the jaws using the correct number sequence.

While I can understand and appreciate your curiosity, this isn't something you would do in practice is it? The chucks may not be perfect, the jaw set might no be perfect. Installing the jaws on another chuck may introduce some difference, and certainly re-mounting the blank, even if on the jaws the exact same way, I would expect to introduce some difference. I'd be surprised if there weren't some wobble after all that.

Often after shaping the outside and turning a tenon using a screw chuck or 6" faceplate, when I mount the tenon in my Vicmarc chuck and jaws there is a slight but noticeable wobble. If concerned by the amount of wobble, I'll open the jaws slightly, rotate the blank an inch or so, and push the blank firmly against the jaws when I re-tighten. This has always minimized the amount of wobble.

I am afraid it will happen every time you change from one to another. No matter what you do with chucks it seems the wood will get the memory and how tight of the one of which it was tightened down on. A lot of guys will mark the area around #1 jaws and wood and put it right back into the same mark later but it still has some wobble.To me it is best to finish up with the jaws. I start everything between centers or faceplate.

It appears that the source of the problem is that the jaws are not interchangeable, even though it's the same model chuck. PSI sells a companion chuck body so that jaws don't need to be changed as often during a project. However, the jaws that fit on my old (2007) chuck do not fit exactly (somehow) on the new one. This is the cause of the wobble. PSI sent another chuck to me and the same problem happened. I returned them and am awaiting a refund.

Old Delta 12" 46-701 in great condition. Had it about 20+ years and turned 1 part.

Re: Barracuda CSC 3000c ChuckReply #4 - Jul 29th, 2017 at 3:42pm

To manufacture a chuck properly, the body and gearing are finished to specs but the jaws are finished only to the point of assembling.Then the chuck is mounted and the jaws clamped down on a true steel diameter but only at the rear of the jaws where they are not normally used, and then ground in assembly while running. This gives the best consentricity to that particular chuck but does not make the jaws interchangeable with other chuck bodies, only close. IMHO.Geo.